Help Connect S4 to computer as mass storage device?

[jmt9779]

Am I missing something here? When I plug my S4 into my laptop via USB, shouldn't I be seeing it as another drive (or, actually two drives - one for the internal memory and one for the 16 gig sd card I have in it)?...So I can drag & drop files into it?

I must be missing a checkbox or something somewhere.

Help! Please!

 

[ADRz]

Am I missing something here? When I plug my S4 into my laptop via USB, shouldn't I be seeing it as another drive (or, actually two drives - one for the internal memory and one for the 16 gig sd card I have in it)?...So I can drag & drop files into it?

I must be missing a checkbox or something somewhere.

Help! Please!

And you should. These drives are visible to me. However, I am not exactly certain what you need to enable or disable to get this to happen.

 

[m3incorp]

If you open windows explorer, you should be able to see your device. On windows 8, I do get a pop up window whenever I initially plug in, asking how I want the plugged in device to be treated, ie as media storage, charge only, etc. Note: Portable device is the Samsung.

 

[jmt9779]

And you should. These drives are visible to me. However, I am not exactly certain what you need to enable or disable to get this to happen.

Okay, so I'm not crazy. Thanks

I couldn't get it to work on my home laptop last night, but I just tried it on my work laptop and it seems to be working when I check the "Camera (PTP)" setting under USB PC connection.

I'll try tinkering with it tonight on the home laptop again, but that computer's been on the fritz lately, so it may just be an issue with the computer; not the phone.

I feel better now

 

[jmt9779]

If you open windows explorer, you should be able to see your device. On windows 8, I do get a pop up window whenever I initially plug in, asking how I want the plugged in device to be treated, ie as media storage, charge only, etc.

Ahh, I should have mentioned that I'm running Windows 7 (on both laptops - home and work).

 

[beowulf7]

It's weird that w/ the S4, it doesn't show up as a uniquely lettered drive. It shows up as a device. With my D3, it showed up as a new lettered drive, which IMO is better. Also, it doesn't seem to make a difference if the Samsung driver is installed or not.

 

[jmt9779]

It's weird that w/ the S4, it doesn't show up as a uniquely lettered drive. It shows up as a device. With my D3, it showed up as a new lettered drive, which IMO is better. Also, it doesn't seem to make a difference if the Samsung driver is installed or not.

Agreed. It's strange, but at long as it still functions properly, I'm happy

 

[Darnell0216]

Older android (Google) devices use the UMS or USB Mass Storage protocol to connect to the computer and other devices, giving you direct access to your SD card as a removable drive.

These days, android (Google) uses the MTP or Media Transfer Protocol, which is an entirely different (and for some, annoying) method. Not many other devices (cars, docks, etc) support this method yet. There are some hacks and apps to get UMS back, but you have to be rooted.

 

[beowulf7]

Agreed. It's strange, but at long as it still functions properly, I'm happy

As a result of that oddity (apparently) is the following. I use IrfanView to view all image files. But when viewing the pics on my phone through that non-lettered drive, even though it has the red IrfanView icon, it uses Windows Picture Viewer (or whatever it's called) to view the pics.

Older android (Google) devices use the UMS or USB Mass Storage protocol to connect to the computer and other devices, giving you direct access to your SD card as a removable drive.

These days, android (Google) uses the MTP or Media Transfer Protocol, which is an entirely different (and for some, annoying) method. Not many other devices (cars, docks, etc) support this method yet. There are some hacks and apps to get UMS back, but you have to be rooted.

Ahh, that must be it. I remember in my D3, there was an option on how I want the USB to treat the phone, like a storage device or media player or just for charging, when connected to the computer. My phone is rooted so I'll have to look into how to getting UMS back.